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Marsha Wilson Chall

Marsha Wilson Chall

Biography

Born and raised in Min­neso­ta as an only child, Mar­sha Wil­son Chall amused her­self in day­dream and set those dreams in the sto­ryscapes of lakes, woods, prairie, and beyond (even France). She hoped her books would invite the read­er to explore new des­ti­na­tions, both out­ward and inward.

Chall pub­lished a children’s chap­ter book and eleven pic­ture books, includ­ing Pick a Pup, One Pup’s Up, Up North at the Cab­in, and Bona­parte. Her books have received numer­ous awards: an Inter­na­tion­al Read­ing Asso­ci­a­tion Teacher’s Choice Award, Amer­i­can Book­sellers Pick of the Lists, Par­ents Choice, NAPPA Gold Award, and Smith­son­ian Notable recognition.

Mar­sha edit­ed writ­ers’ man­u­scripts and taught pri­vate work­shops and uni­ver­si­ty class­es, most recent­ly in the MFA pro­gram in Writ­ing for Chil­dren and Young Adults at Ham­line Uni­ver­si­ty. She had two grown chil­dren and four grandchildren.

Mar­sha passed away on March 29, 2026.
Eudo­ra Wel­ty said that “chil­dren, like ani­mals, use all their sens­es to dis­cov­er the world. Then artists come along and dis­cov­er it the same way, all over again.” So I write to inter­pret and pre­serve expe­ri­ence, to cap­ture it so it can nev­er be lost. Writ­ing for chil­dren allows me that joy of expe­ri­enc­ing the world over and over again for the first time. Adults lose this child­like appre­ci­a­tion and dis­cov­ery through over-com­pli­ca­tion. I like to make the com­plex sim­ple. Not sim­ple-mind­ed, but pared down to the essential. 
Marsha Wilson